. >> they cannot stop me, i will get my education, if it is in home, school or any place. >> reporter: this 2009 interview with a journalist was one the girl gave as one of the best known, most outspoken and youngest critics of the extremist forces ravaging her country. >> i was very scared. the militants threw acid on my face. they can do anything. >> reporter: she refused to let fear silence her. in her diary, translated and published by the bbc, she described life under taliban rule. i was afraid going to school, she wrote, because the taliban had issued an edict banning all girls from attending school. she went anyway. inspiring others to do the same. her diary was nominated for the international children's peace prize. >> coming from a child, it's innocent, it's honest, it's open, and i think that's what was so threatening. >> reporter: tonight malala remains in critical condition at a military hospital at this hour. doctors believe she will survive, but some are expressing concern that she may have trouble speaking again. brian? >> amna nawaz, our pakistan based correspondent, t